Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Market day is as important socially as it is commercially—it's a weekly chance
toresumefriendshipsandgetthecurrentgossip.NeighborscatchuponHenri'sbarn
renovation,seephotosofJacqueline'snewgrandchild,andrelaxover uncafé .Dogs
are tethered to café tables while friends exchange kisses. Tether yourself to a café
table and observe: three cheek-kisses for good friends (left-right-left, a fourth for
friends you haven't seen in a while); the appropriate number of kisses varies by re-
gion—Paris, Lyon, and Provence all have different standards. It's bad form to be in
a hurry on market day. Allow the crowd to set your pace.
Buy some of your picnics at an open-air market. Most perishable items are sold
directlyfromtheproducers—nomiddlemen,noVisacards,justreallyfreshproduce
( du pays means “grown locally”). Space rental is cheap (about €5-10, depending on
the size). Most vendors follow a weekly circuit of markets they feel work best for
them, showing up in the same spot every week, year in and year out. Notice how
much fun they have chatting up their customers and one another. Many vendors
speakenoughEnglishtoassistyouinyourselection.Marketsendby13:00—intime
for lunch, allowing the town to reclaim its streets and squares.
Picnics and Snacks
Great for lunch or dinner, French picnics can be first-class affairs and adventures in
high cuisine. Be daring. Try the smelly cheeses, ugly pâtés, sissy quiches, and minuscule
yogurts. Shopkeepers are accustomed to selling small quantities of produce. Get a tasty
salad-to-go and ask for a plastic fork (une fourchette en plastique) . A small container is
une barquette . A slice is une tranche. If you need a knife (couteau) or corkscrew (tire-
bouchon), borrowonefromyourhotelier.Andthoughwineistabooinpublicplacesinthe
US, it's pas de problème in France.
Assembling a Picnic: Visit several small stores to put together a complete meal.
Shop early, as many shops close from 12:00 to 15:00 for their lunch break. Say “ Bonjour
as you enter, then point to what you want and say, “S'il vous plaît.” Or visit open-air mar-
kets (marchés), whicharefunandphotogenicbutshutdownaround13:00(manyarelisted
in this topic; French TIs have complete lists).
At the boulangerie (bakery), buy some bread. A baguette usually does the trick, or
choose from the many square loaves of bread on display: pain aux céréales (whole grain
with seeds), pain de campagne (country bread, made with unbleached bread flour), pain
complet (made with wheat), or pain de seigle (rye bread). To ask to have it sliced, say,
“Tranché s'il vous plaît.” The sales clerk will invariably ask if you would like anything
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